"Being proud" and "Being prideful"

Let me start out by saying that I find nothing inherently wrong with the statement "I am so proud of you." I do not equate the message of that statement with the sin of pride at all. Reflecting on it, though, I find that I am a bit uncomfortable with the focus it brings. It seems to me that a better statement would be "I thank God for what he has done through you." or something like that. Maybe "Thank you for letting God use you" is all right too. I guess my main concern is that I want the focus to be on the Gift Giver rather than the one who has been gifted. That, to me, makes me more comfortable and makes more of God and less of the individual that God is using in a particular way. That seems to be more of the spirit of John the Baptist when he said that "He must increase and I must decrease."

For me it is a little like taking a circuitous route to a destination. If my goal is to get there as quickly as possible then there is a better way to do that. I would take a more direct route to my destination rather than amble and meander in a particular fashion. I may be making too much of this but my goal is to bring as much glory and thanks to God as possible. I need to take opportunities to bring the focus back to Him in every situation.

I realize some of the ramifications this has, but also know that this idea is only about three-quarters baked.